Innovative “Press Network” announced for Tokyo 2020 – and it will be free

The World Press Briefing for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, which brought together the world’s main media and press agencies to better understand the media operations during the Games, concluded this week in the Japanese capital. At the event, the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee announced innovative technology infrastructure for the Olympic and Paralympic Games that they are calling the “Press Network”.

The Press Network will provide every press-tabled stand position and every primary photo position in venues, as well as each Venue Media Centre and the Main Press Centre (MPC), with cabled internet access. This access to the Press Network will be provided by Tokyo 2020 free of charge for all accredited press representatives, a first for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Press Network will be supported by robust Wi-Fi in all press areas in all venues, also free of charge.

There will be an additional level of infrastructure within this cabled network for the major news agencies (Press Plus), using MAC address authentication of laptops, cameras and equipment, which will replace the old agency VLAN. This innovative dedicated cabled network will be a paid service created in close relationship between the Tokyo 2020 Technology Department, their technology and telecom providers, the main international news agencies (AP, Reuters, AFP, Getty, Kyodo and Xinhua), as well as USA Today, EPA, Sports Illustrated, Yomiuri Shimbun and Asahi Shimbun.

Tokyo 2020 also announced a new remote interpreting initiative, which will provide professional simultaneous interpreting for every press conference at competition venues and the MPC. The press conferences will also now be streamed on the Games INFO system, so press representatives will be able to watch the conferences on their laptops or phones from any venue, live or delayed. At past Games, only four sports (athletics, gymnastics, basketball and swimming) and the main conferences at the MPC had simultaneous interpreting, with all others having consecutive interpreting.